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Article GRAND CHAPTER. Page 1 of 1 Article GRAND CHAPTER. Page 1 of 1 Article MOTHER KILWINNING. Page 1 of 5 →
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Grand Chapter.
GRAND CHAPTER .
LONDON , SATURDAY , AUGUSTS , 1863 .
Tire tinie-honoured farce called the Quarterly Convocation of the Supreme Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons was again enacted in the . Theatre Royal Temple , Great Queen-street , on "Wednesday , and , much as we had to condemn the
performance on the last occasion , it was infinitely worse on the present , there not being one of the ¦ principal actors that knew anything about the 'character he was called upon , evidently at the shortest notice , to fill . Comp . Lord Sherborne ,
an amateur from the country , where he bears a tolerable reputation for his careful representation of Provincial Grand Master , and who made his debut on the London boards as Joshua on the last
representation of this farce , was on the present occasion called upon to assume the principal role , being supported by Comps . Potter and Gole , two old utility actors , as H . and J ., but not one of the three appeared to have even studied their cues ;
and the latter two , in the absence of the regular promptor , Comp . Wilson , who did not arrive till the performance was nearly over , undertook to prompt their principal , and , after some admirable gagging , which would do great credit to younger
actors , they managed to open the chapter in the name of the "Holy St . John of Jerusalem . " Hear that , ye Masons universal ! Did these actors ever take part in the favourite entertainment called the Knights Templar ? The opening scenes
having been got through , the principal portion of the performance devolved on Comps . Clarke , E ., and Jennings , N , and passed off with its accustomed regularity and tameness . The other actors were then called upon to proceed with the close of
the performance , which , if possible , was worse than the opening , Comp . Nutt , P . Soj ., being the only one up in his part ; and the chapter was finally closed in the name of Higgledy Piggledy , or some equally occult being , amidst the scarcelysuppressed laughter of the supers .
Seriously speaking , it is time that Grand Chapter should altogether cease , if no better ' performance of the business can be arranged than have disgraced the meetings of late . The Grand Chapter is all but useless , and , as at present
conducted , is only calculated to bring Royal Arch Masonry into contempt . We do not suppose that the Grand Z . can always attend ( indeed he would
Grand Chapter.
only be wasting" his time to do so ) , but we do think we have a right to expect that the executive should make such arrangements as would ensure the proceedings being conducted with something like order and decorum , which a five minutes'
rehearsal with any one knowing the business would be ample to ensure . ' The General Committee have deputed to them the revisal of the laws , and we would suggest that amongst others they should limit the meetings of
Grand Chapter to one , or at most two , a year , which would be ample for the business ; and perhaps they might be so arranged as to ensure the attendance of companions competent to perform the duties .
Mother Kilwinning.
MOTHER KILWINNING .
BY D . MU - BRAY LTONT , K . T ., PBOV . J . G . W ., 01 ? AXESHIEE . No . II . A glance at the records of many of our modern lodgeswritten under circumstances infinitelmore
, y favourable for the preservation of what might he valuable to future historiographers of the Craft , in depicting the esoteric features of the Order , will tend very much to modify our feeling of wonder and disapjiointment at the meagre amount of information regarding the doings of the brethren discoverable in
the few lodge minutes which have been preserved of a date anterior to the establishment of either of the Grand Lodges at present guiding Masonic affairs within the united kingdom . Making due allowance for the secresy which must necssarily envelope certain ceremonies of the Orderthere are matters
pertain-, ing to the laws and customs , discipline and socialities , obtaining among Speculative Masons , which , in the hands of intelligent brethren , charged with the penning of their records , might be so framed as to render the delineation of the Masonic landmarks a
task comparatively easy many generations hence , and serve to guide our successors on the tesselated floor to a tolerably correct estimate of the everyday life of the Fraternity of the 19 th century . The records of the Mother Lodge , extending backward for a period of two hundred and
twentyone years , are contained in four volumes , all of which are in a good state of preservation , although the ink in which the first volume is written is in some parts very much faded . What now exist 3 of the correspondence of the lodge throws some little light upon certain of its minutes ; hut it is much to be regretted
that the Masonic archives at Kilwinning should contain so few MSS . bearing upon the business of the lodge , as , had these been preserved of a date coeval with its oldest minuted records , the research after Masonic lore might have been greatly facilitated , and a key supplied for the better understanding of the true position of the Order as an institution of the country . It can well be conceived how easily loose manuscripts may be lost ; but when we state that the
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Grand Chapter.
GRAND CHAPTER .
LONDON , SATURDAY , AUGUSTS , 1863 .
Tire tinie-honoured farce called the Quarterly Convocation of the Supreme Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons was again enacted in the . Theatre Royal Temple , Great Queen-street , on "Wednesday , and , much as we had to condemn the
performance on the last occasion , it was infinitely worse on the present , there not being one of the ¦ principal actors that knew anything about the 'character he was called upon , evidently at the shortest notice , to fill . Comp . Lord Sherborne ,
an amateur from the country , where he bears a tolerable reputation for his careful representation of Provincial Grand Master , and who made his debut on the London boards as Joshua on the last
representation of this farce , was on the present occasion called upon to assume the principal role , being supported by Comps . Potter and Gole , two old utility actors , as H . and J ., but not one of the three appeared to have even studied their cues ;
and the latter two , in the absence of the regular promptor , Comp . Wilson , who did not arrive till the performance was nearly over , undertook to prompt their principal , and , after some admirable gagging , which would do great credit to younger
actors , they managed to open the chapter in the name of the "Holy St . John of Jerusalem . " Hear that , ye Masons universal ! Did these actors ever take part in the favourite entertainment called the Knights Templar ? The opening scenes
having been got through , the principal portion of the performance devolved on Comps . Clarke , E ., and Jennings , N , and passed off with its accustomed regularity and tameness . The other actors were then called upon to proceed with the close of
the performance , which , if possible , was worse than the opening , Comp . Nutt , P . Soj ., being the only one up in his part ; and the chapter was finally closed in the name of Higgledy Piggledy , or some equally occult being , amidst the scarcelysuppressed laughter of the supers .
Seriously speaking , it is time that Grand Chapter should altogether cease , if no better ' performance of the business can be arranged than have disgraced the meetings of late . The Grand Chapter is all but useless , and , as at present
conducted , is only calculated to bring Royal Arch Masonry into contempt . We do not suppose that the Grand Z . can always attend ( indeed he would
Grand Chapter.
only be wasting" his time to do so ) , but we do think we have a right to expect that the executive should make such arrangements as would ensure the proceedings being conducted with something like order and decorum , which a five minutes'
rehearsal with any one knowing the business would be ample to ensure . ' The General Committee have deputed to them the revisal of the laws , and we would suggest that amongst others they should limit the meetings of
Grand Chapter to one , or at most two , a year , which would be ample for the business ; and perhaps they might be so arranged as to ensure the attendance of companions competent to perform the duties .
Mother Kilwinning.
MOTHER KILWINNING .
BY D . MU - BRAY LTONT , K . T ., PBOV . J . G . W ., 01 ? AXESHIEE . No . II . A glance at the records of many of our modern lodgeswritten under circumstances infinitelmore
, y favourable for the preservation of what might he valuable to future historiographers of the Craft , in depicting the esoteric features of the Order , will tend very much to modify our feeling of wonder and disapjiointment at the meagre amount of information regarding the doings of the brethren discoverable in
the few lodge minutes which have been preserved of a date anterior to the establishment of either of the Grand Lodges at present guiding Masonic affairs within the united kingdom . Making due allowance for the secresy which must necssarily envelope certain ceremonies of the Orderthere are matters
pertain-, ing to the laws and customs , discipline and socialities , obtaining among Speculative Masons , which , in the hands of intelligent brethren , charged with the penning of their records , might be so framed as to render the delineation of the Masonic landmarks a
task comparatively easy many generations hence , and serve to guide our successors on the tesselated floor to a tolerably correct estimate of the everyday life of the Fraternity of the 19 th century . The records of the Mother Lodge , extending backward for a period of two hundred and
twentyone years , are contained in four volumes , all of which are in a good state of preservation , although the ink in which the first volume is written is in some parts very much faded . What now exist 3 of the correspondence of the lodge throws some little light upon certain of its minutes ; hut it is much to be regretted
that the Masonic archives at Kilwinning should contain so few MSS . bearing upon the business of the lodge , as , had these been preserved of a date coeval with its oldest minuted records , the research after Masonic lore might have been greatly facilitated , and a key supplied for the better understanding of the true position of the Order as an institution of the country . It can well be conceived how easily loose manuscripts may be lost ; but when we state that the